Many years ago, I got pulled into the whole Medgugorje thing, and subsequently all of the satellites` that formed in the US and elsewhere. I actually visited the village, and met Father Phillip Pavich there. I moved and joined a new parish, and one of the satellites moved from Arizona to my Maryland parish; the parish was seriously divided. I began to question the whole phenomena, and the cult-like atmosphere, as my life was beginning to revolve around the next apparition or message. Some internet searching led me to Father Pavich’s denunciation of the whole affair. He, like I, first believed but later questioned it. In his opinion, the apparitions are nothing but a hoax and a money making scheme.
Author Michael Davies wrote an excellent book, which is available as a free download on his website. It is an excellent piece of investigative journalism that goes into the whole history behind the false apparitions. I walked away from it all, I can’t begin to explain what a huge weight was lifted; it was becoming impossible to do all of the various devotions with the myriads of promises; plus some of these were bordering on being just plain nonsense (Two blond hairs on a woman’s floor, that she picked up and placed in the trash, were revealed to her during an apparition to be Our Lady’s??? I didn’t know they had Clairol Blondessence back in Mary’s days!).
A Third Order Carmelite has links to scans of official documents related to Medjugorje; a laicized priest under Interdict married to an ex-nun that had his child while both were still serving in the parish and in the Franciscan order (both were removed from the order) That “priest” is STILL the spiritual director for one of the visionary’s! Another famous Medjugorge priest has been confined to a friary and ordered to not speak of the apparitions. The visionaries are extremely wealthy, and operate many of the inns and motels in the village. As Fr Pavich said, a money-making scheme. I can hardly wait for Rome to put an end to this runaway train, I pray it will happen soon.
We have our own “Lourdes” now in the US, the apparitions to Adele Brice in Wisconsin, Our Lady of Good Help, received the approval of the Vatican as of Dec 8, 2010.
